As NIFA's flagship competitive grants program, the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program solicits applications from scientists each year.
NOTICE
All NIFA Notices of Funding Opportunities are currently under review. Check back for updates or subscribe to NIFA Funding Opportunities for email updates as they happen.
The application process offers funding for single-function and integrated agricultural research, education, extension and integrated grants to improve rural economies, alleviate the impacts of pests and diseases, increase food and agriculture profitability, stimulate the bioeconomy, maintain long-term production capability, increase water efficiency, ensure food safety and nutritional quality, enhance human nutrition, and train the next generation of the food and agricultural workforce.
AFRI has three Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs): Foundational and Applied Science; Strengthening Agricultural Systems; and Education and Workforce Development. Prospective applicants are encouraged to review each NOFO to explore all the opportunities available to them. Potential applicants should refer to the AFRI NOFOs after they are posted and the NOFO resources page for information needed to submit an application to the appropriate program.
The table below will be updated when AFRI NOFOs are posted/updated or other information becomes available. If you wish to subscribe to notices about AFRI NOFOs posted on Grants.gov, see the instructions below.
NOFO Titles and Posting/Update Dates
| NOFO Title | anticipated next Posting Date |
|---|---|
| AFRI Education and Workforce Development | January 20, 2026 |
| AFRI Foundational and Applied Science | August 1, 2025 |
| AFRI Strengthening Agricultural Systems | January 29,2026 |
For additional information pertinent to AFRI applications, see the AFRI NOFO Resources page.
Subscribing to Grants.gov Notices for AFRI
Getting email notices about newly posted Agriculture and Food Research Initiative grant opportunities from Grants.gov requires an account. If you would like to sign up to receive notices about AFRI, you will need to follow these instructions:
- If you do not have a Grants.gov account, you can register for free by clicking the Register link in the top-right corner of the Grants.gov page. (Go to Step 6 if you already have an account.)
- Click the Get Registered Now button on the Register page and complete both the Contact Information and Account Details sections. All fields with a red asterisk (*) are required.
- Click the Continue button and then click the Send Temporary Code button.
- Access your email account to access the temporary code, enter the temporary code you received into the Temporary Code field and click the Continue button.
- Decide if you would like to add a profile to your Grants.gov account (not required for subscribing to alerts) or click the Continue button to log in.
- Go to the Subscribe to Saved Searches page. (You will need to log into your account if you are not already logged in.)
- Click on the Add Saved Search >> button.
- Fill-in the Saved Search Name with anything you’d like such as AFRI and under BASIC SEARCH CRITERIA for CFDA fill-in “10.310” (without the quotes). You can leave the rest of the fields as they are and click on the Save button at the bottom.
- Your saved search subscription will now be listed under “My Saved Opportunity Searches.” If there are any newly posted AFRI opportunities, you will receive an email notice from “DoNotReply @ grants.gov” sometime after midnight of the day it is posted. If you wish to unsubscribe in the future, login to Grants.gov, go to the Subscribe to Saved Searches page and click on the “Delete” link for your AFRI search.
This will get you notified of all AFRI NOFOs being released. The NOFOs and their program area priorities may change from year to year, so reading through Part I C is always advisable for figuring out what area your project may fit into.